CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTORY 1 II. THE BOILING OF WATER 8 III. ALBUMEN 19 IV. GELATIN, FIBRIN, AND THE JUICES OF MEAT 32 V. ROASTING AND GRILLING 47 VI. COUNT RUMFORD’S ROASTER 63 VII. FRYING 84 VIII. STEWING 111 IX. CHEESE 127 X. FAT—MILK 156 XI. THE COOKERY OF VEGETABLES 173 XII. GLUTEN—BREAD 194 XIII. VEGETABLE CASEIN AND VEGETABLE JUICES 211 XIV. COUNT RUMFORD’S COOKERY AND CHEAP DINNERS 227 XV. COUNT RUMFORD’S SUBSTITUTE FOR TEA AND COFFEE 245 XVI. THE COOKERY OF WINE 265 XVII. THE VEGETARIAN QUESTION 294 XVIII. MALTED FOOD 303 XIX. THE PHYSIOLOGY OF NUTRITION 313 INDEX 325 THE CHEMISTRY OF COOKERY. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. THE philosopher who first perceived and announced the fact that all the physical doings of man consist simply in changing the places of things, made a very profound generalisation, and one that is worthy of more serious consideration than it has received. All our handicraft, however great may be the skill employed, amounts to no more than this. The miner moves the ore and the fuel from their subterranean resting-places, then they are moved into the furnace, and by another moving of combustibles the working of the furnace is started; then the metals are moved to the foundries and forges, then under hammers, or squeezers, or into melting-pots, and thence to moulds. The workman shapes the bars, or plates, or castings by removing a part of their substance, and by more and more movings of material produces the engine, which does its work when fuel and water are moved into its fireplace and boiler. The statue is within the rough block of marble; the sculptor merely moves away the outer portions, and thereby renders his artistic conception visible to his fellow-men. The agriculturist merely moves the soil in order that it may receive the seed, which he then moves into it, and when the growth is completed, he moves the result, and thereby makes his harvest. The same may be said of every other operation. Man alters the position of physical things in such wise that the forces of Nature shall operate upon them, and produce the changes or other results that he requires.